Buying a new (to us) car - opinions?

**CrazyCatLady** · 03-12-2017, 11:55 AM

So we are buying a new (to us) car, likely either a small to midsize SUV or a large sedan, and while we've looked at a lot of vehicles the one thing I'm missing is inside knowledge from people who know vehicle safety and I remember this board being very much informed when it came to the pros and cons of various vehicles. We have a list of 'finalists' so to speak, vehicles that we have seen and liked, and I'd like to get some folks opinion on them, find out if there's anything we don't know that we should know about any of them before making a decision. If you know anything about these vehicles would you please let me know what you think? It would be super helpful! Whatever we buy will likely be about 2013 or newer.

So far we really like:
Honda CRV
Toyota RAV4
Kia Optima
Toyota Camry
Honda Accord
Mazda 5 (well, I liked it years ago, we're going to look at one today)

TIA if you can help shed some light on things for me!

**Car-Seat.Org** · 03-12-2017 11:55 AM

**Dillipop** · 03-12-2017, 04:59 PM

How many kids do you have and are any of them still in car seats or boosters? How big are they and how many extra people do you want to transport?

The RAV4 is known for it's crossover seat belts and may only really seat 4 instead of 5.

I love our 2012 mazda5. We regularly squeeze 6 of us in there. When transporting 6 though, there is almost no storage available. Great as a people mover though and works well for us with a 13 yo (seatbelt), 10 yo (backless booster), 6 yo (highback) and 1 yo (rearfacing convertible).

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**CrazyCatLady** · 03-13-2017, 10:41 AM

Kids in the car vary, lol. The ones I have most often right now are a 17 year old who is learning how to drive (yikes!) and my 7 year old niece who is in a backless booster. Periodically I have another teenager and another 7 year old, but I pretty much never need to drive everyone at once. I am hoping to have a baby in the near future, I miscarried my first pregnancy

but I'm looking at cars as though I need to put a rear facing car seat in them. I've been careful to check for head support and front to back space in everything, and given that I installed a MyRide in a beetle when I was a CPST, I'm pretty confident I can fit a RF whatever in any of them. I just know that the safety and convenience aspects for kids are not always obvious, which is why I'm asking here. I didn't know about the seat belts on the RAV4, that's helpful. And I LOVE the Mazda 5, I've wanted one for years, but they're scarce since they don't make them anymore. We're hoping to see a couple today.

**sirrahn** · 03-13-2017, 02:31 PM

Originally Posted by CrazyCatLady

...And I LOVE the Mazda 5, I've wanted one for years, but they're scarce since they don't make them anymore. We're hoping to see a couple today.

Do be aware that the crash tests for the Mazda 5 were pretty disappointing. http://www.iihs.org/iihs/ratings/veh...5-4-door-wagon

**cookie123** · 03-16-2017, 11:44 AM

I learned at the car show yesterday that the Mazda5 is not returning. I was sad because I was hoping for an updated model with better crash tests. It would be a perfect gramma mobile! Is it possible he didn't know what he was talking about?

**ace973** · 05-05-2017, 01:02 PM

I've heard good things about the newer Toyota Camry - it's an old standard that's easy to service and has a long and pretty good track record in terms of safety. Kia tends to make a roomier car- even for the cheaper models- but I'm not familiar with the Optima personally. I found the Accord cramped and a little plain, and for the price you could probably afford a better car in terms of crash durability. Have heard mixed opinions on the RAV4, but the newer models might have improved by now. Don't know the CRV.